Announcements

Please note that the forum is still upgrading will be for most of the night I think,therefore you may find it slow at times, looking different etc etc. This will straighten out (he hopes) as the upgrade continues. One of the big changes is that usernames and display names will change. At the moment you can have a username and display name for example you can have a username of joeblogsy and a display name of Joe Blogs. After the upgrade we will only have usernames. For some this won't make any difference at all but there are a fair few of you that have different display names., many of which I have changed for people for various reasons. If, after the upgrade you notice your forum name isn't right please just send me a PM with your desired username. You may also find you have been logged out, if this happens and you cannot remember your original forum details, please email me at mark@touringandtenting or open a support ticket by

About this blog

Entries in this blog

Can't really fault this campsite, pitches are big, facilities are superb and the staff are friendly. It is a very busy site in summer and has everything you would expect like a pool, kids club, entertainment, shop, bar etc but as we were out of season the site was a lot quieter.

It has a river running alongside but one word of caution is that there is a railway line running close to the site, we found it ok but we were pitched up on the opposite side, not near the river.

Would definately go again, even if we used it as a stop over on the way south.

Most of the pitches here are terraced but are a bit tired, they also offer a water tap on your pitch for extra which we took, but its a bit of a downer because you can't connect to it, it is a push button tap.

All the facilities are pretty good and this has full activities, kids club, pools, bar etc.

Unfortunately we didn't find the staff very helpful or friendly and the bar was murder. No wifi here, you can connect in the bar but its something stupid like a euro per minute.

This was recommended by Doc sometime ago and he was right, its a nice campsite right on the river La Lesse

If you are lucky can you get a pitch right on the river edge but a lot are already taken by seasonals. From here you can take a Kayak trip down to Anseremme which is great fun and well worth the effort.

The campsite is pretty good really, it does have a pool and bar which in the height of summer must be busy but when we were there the campsite was quiet up until the weekend when it picked up a bit.

The facilities are ok, no frills and you have to buy a token for the showers. Wifi is also available for 8 euros for 24 hours

Been doing a lot to improve search engine rankings lately and had some pretty good results but since we started in 2003 I have never been able to get touring and tenting on the first page of google search results using the keyword "caravanning" this is because we haven't got caravanning or similar in our name. So for example the camping and caravanning club have a head start whereas touring and tenting struggles. So today I was chuffed to bits (how sad is that) to find touring and tenting not only on the first page but 2nd with the key word "caravanning"

For any reading this it probably doesn't mean a lot but to me its a big deal and gives me a kind of personal endorsement that the redesigns have or are have a positive affect. Better search results mean more visits, more visits mean more members and with luck more activity all round.

The Boat & Caravan Show, the UK’s largest show for outdoor leisure, taking place from 22 – 27 February 2011 at the NEC Birmingham, has confirmed the UK’s leading caravan manufacturers have chosen the event to drive 2011 sales. This comes at a time when the British public’s eagerness to discover the freedom and adventure of independent holidaying in the UK shows no sign of abating.Swift, Bailey, Elddis, Lunar, Coachman as well as French manufacturer Trigano have all confirmed their presence at the six day event, highlighting the importance the event plays in the industry calendar.

Commenting on the commitment to the show by the leading manufacturers, Exhibition Director Andy Gibb said: “This is excellent news, not only for the event, but for the sector, and the tens of thousands of visitors expected to visit the show looking to view and purchase the newest Spring 2011 ranges.

“Our show has gained a reputation amongst the industry and manufacturers. They recognise the event introduces families and individuals to the ‘great outdoors’ and the advantages of taking caravan, boating, and camping holidays.”

For further information on the Boat & Caravan Show and to benefit from special advanced ticket prices visitwww.boatandcaravan.co.uk

Touring and Tenting will also be running a ticket competition nearer the time please check back for details

After a lot of thought and some conversations at the rally I have trimmed the forums down as it was felt they were getting to long and was maybe confusing for new and existing members for example workshop is back to being 1 forum where previously it was 6 broken down into various sub forums etc.

Hope you like it and if you feel there are other areas that could be improved please let me know

Changed a lot of the forums around today to make navigation a bit easier I hope. The main ones are listed below

In Touring and Tenting Times the good news forum and Current affairs forum have been removed (all posts moved to general) and the website updates forum has been removed and the posts moved to Touring and Tenting Times which is now for T&T news and stuff only

I have added a new system on the forums basically for you to show off your outfits (Caravans, motorhomes, tents, tow cars etc) to other members of the forum, but it will have other uses.

You can add up to 5 vehicles. Don't forget to add a piccy or 2 (let me know of you have problems)

At the moment I have only the basic switched on and there is still a fair bit to do but for that I need your help as you can add modifications or extra details so I need you to tell me what you think would be good to add.

As an example I have added "Weight or mtplm" as an option for caravans but if you have a motorhome you might want other information added.

Let me know what you would like to see added or altered.

Hope you enjoy it, thats the main thing

You can find it at the top of the forum "Showroom" or there is a block on the right

Its driving me nuts, after the upgrading the forums and news the site was running great as it had been for several months then bam it all goes wrong with the severs being knocked out. Don't get me wrong I am pleased that we are back online after a weekend being off but the mess it has left is wicked.

There isn't a day goes past that I don't do something on the site, my plans are always greater than the time I have available but I can handle that. What I can't handle is starting something only to find there is a misconfiguration in the server that needs to be corrected before I can even start to do the proactive stuff. The errors lead me off to other errors and before I know it I have not done any improvements at all, only repairs. Simple stuff like loading up photos to the gallery has turned into a major overhaul of the system and it shouldn't be like that.

All the while at the back of my mind is that there are bits of the forum and gallery that members can't use and that really nettles me. The whole point of this website has always been that members can come on and do what they want, post upload etc etc and at the moment that isn't easy and it needs sorting...and it will be.

That's the end of my rant, the rest I will take up with my host as I had thought this sort of thing was behind us when we moved from US servers in 2004.

After the change to our new server I updated the blogs to the new layout as you can see. Later on members will be able to change the page to however they want it but for now you can organise the blocks on the left and right and customise it as you want.

If you click on the blocks you can drop and drag them to where you want. Along with the change indesign there are a lot of new content blocks, digg, google, my friends etc etc. Click the drop down in your blog to see them.

As part of the move we are changing other things as well, the news and articles have been moved to their new home at http://news.touringandtenting.com this is to make room for the new site that will be launched soon and which we hope will be popular with members.

I think the new site will be unique in the caravanning and camping community and if it is a success or not will be up to the members and visitors and is, to say the least a bit worrying for us as any new enterprise is. We have bitten the bullet now and will have to see.

I don't think you can stand still with the internet and you have to continue to try and stay up to date with everything that is going on and keep things fresh for members and visitors. Our aim has always been to combine serious caravanning and camping stuff along with lighter stuff and to make the website as usable as possible for people, this thinking is behind the new changes.

Strange day today, we moved mum to a nursing home after a long period of seeing her go in and out of hospital.

One part of me is pleased that we can settle her in and I know she will get better care but another part of me feels like driving back out there and taking back home.

Maybe it is because at the back of your mind you can't help thinking this will be the last move, another is the inability to reconcile the fact that the woman who had boundless energy is now so unable to enjoy the things we take for granted.

Unfortunately mum has never really taken well to change and has always been a home bird, if this latest move is to succeed she will very much need to feel this new place is her home. If she doesn't I am not sure what will happen.

Win a weeks holiday on the fabulous Lake Trasimeno at the superb 4 Star Villaggio Italgest for any week of your choice, low or high season in 2005.

Directly on the shores of Lake Trasimeno, in a spacious park of Mediterranean tall trees, the Campsite-Tourist Village Italgest is located facing the largest of the lake's three islands and nearby the natural oasis called "La Valle". At only 500m from the village of Sant Arcangelo, the tourist resort is a first class campsite offering a wide range of amenities in its 55.000 sq.m park.

Villaggio Italgest is located on the south shore of Lake Trasimeno, facing the Polvese island. Perfectly positioned between Umbria, Tuscany and Latium, the Village is an excellent base for visiting the most important historical and cultural sites eg Rome, Florence, Sienna, Perugia, Assisi and Pisa

This wonderful holiday includes your pitch, electricity, hot water, camper service, entertainment, kids club, free use of the swimming-pools and all the facilities. Italgest also has it's own private beach and lots, lots more

Answer the 3 questions (Hint: answers can be found Here ) and the tiebreaker

1..How far are Rome and Florence from the Villaggio Italgest?

2..How many swimming-pools does Villaggio Italgest have?

3..How many toilet blocks does Villaggio Italgest have?

In no more that 20 words tell us why you would like to spend a holiday in Villaggio Italgest........

You can choose several options from there to set the page up, choose a nama for your page/s, enter your details, add categories for example I have 2: "caravanning and camping" and off "topic stuff" You can have as many as you want

Set up your basic page first then take it from there. It's early days for this yet and there are lots of features to follow.

Photo's etc can be added as normal.

One small thing to finish, when you go through the set up you want the default "local blog" not linked unless you have your own